Properties of As-Te alloys and their reactions with Zn substrate

The equilibrium phase relationship, glass formation, glass transition temperature, microhardness and density of As-Te alloys are examined. It is found that the available As-Te equilibrium phase diagram might not be correct, and a possible phase diagram is proposed. As-Te glasses are formed in quenching processes, and the As-Te alloys in the compositional range near As0.5Te0.5, have the highest glass formation ability (GFA). Besides studies of the properties of As-Te alloys, their interfacial reactions with Zn substrate are also investigated. ZnTe phase is formed in the AS(0.271)Te(0.729) alloy/Zn reaction couple annealed at 380 and 395 degreesC. Schematic isothermal sections of the As-Te-Zn ternary systems are proposed based on the limited ternary phase equilibria data and the equilibrium phase diagrams of its three constituent binary systems. The reaction paths of the As-Te/Zn couples in both temperatures are liquid/ZnTe/Zn, and are consistent with the proposed isothermal sections. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.